A long way ahead for equality

UN REPORT SAYS GENDER GAP WIDE WITH WOMEN EARNING 24% LESS THAN MEN

The world has become wealthier but at the same time more unequal today with women earning 24% less than men, a UN report reveals

The world has become wealthier, but at the same time more unequal today than at any other point since the Second World War some 75 years ago.

The gender gap, across the globe, is still wide, even in industrialised and developed nations. Women need to work more than men, but are still earning 24 per cent less than men, a UN report, which was released yesterday, said.

Titled “Transforming Economies, Realising Rights”, the UN report noted that despite “significant achievements” since the Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing in 1995, the changes have not yet resulted in equal outcomes for women and men.

Globally, three quarters of working age men are in the labour force, compared to half of working age women, the report said.

“Everywhere, women continue to be denied equal pay for work of equal value and are less likely than men to receive a pension, which translates into large income inequalities throughout their lives,” the report added.

The 337-page report focuses on economic and social dimensions of gender equality, including the right of all women to a good job, with fair pay and safe working conditions and an adequate pension in older age, to health care and to safe water, without discrimination based on factors such as social economic status, geographic location and race or ethnicity. However, equality, experts say, is a very complex issue bigger than just a gap in numbers. To achieve equality, lots of efforts are needed as the existing system is a “system of inequality across the board”, they added.

“To change the global system, you have to change the whole mentality,” said Rima Sabban, assistant professor of sociology at Zayed University in Dubai. “And to change the whole mentality you need to change men’s mentality also. It is not a regulation thing; you change a law and the reality changes. No, it is a whole system, that includes culture, understanding and [social] classes,” she told Gulf News.

Sabban strongly believes that when it comes to equality, efforts should also touch “real respect and appreciation of women”. She gives violence as an example.

“What happens if we bridge the gap [of discrimination], but there is still violence against women?”